Barry Brown. Rope & Canvas Craftsman, and Net Maker.
Also Recumbent HPV builder and Pilot, Long Distance Pumper (of the skating kind) and Tinkerer in just about everything.

About Me

I am fascinated about anything to do with knots, whether it be tying a shoe lace, tying into a harness and climbing an ice fall; or hand braiding a new hammock to sleep in after a hard days work or play, I never tire of learning new knots or discovering new uses and ways of tying them.

Though I have spent a fair portion of my life climbing and walking in many parts of the world; where the tying of knots can literally mean the difference between life and death, it is the practical and decorative uses of knots outside of climbing that really interest me.

Above: Photo taken at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Massachusetts in 2009,

When not fiddling with bits of string I like to build, ride and occasionally race Recumbent cycles, and though not related to knot tying; I find the interwoven patterns of the spokes whilst building the wheels to be very knot like.

I also like to build or modify my own LDP (Long Distance Pumping) skate boards.With practice very long distances can be covered without the need to touch the ground and push the board with your feet, Just like surfing a perpetual Paved Wave ;-)

Above: Putting my new Carbon Fiber "Siva" through its paces along the River Ruhr in Germany. Photo by Victoria.

About Me

My name is Barry Brown, I am a Rope & Canvas Craftsman and Net Maker, based in the South East of England.
I make mostly one off, Unique and traditionally hand crafted pieces of practical art work, using rope, twine, canvas, sometimes leather and pretty much anything you can tie a knot in.
Some of the items I have made include bags, hammocks, bell ropes, jewellery, rope mats, knife and whistle lanyards, chest beckets, various type of fishing nets and other netted items.
Some of these items have been crafted by hand using the traditional tools as used by the Sailmaker, Rigger and Sailor during the age of the tall ship, some of the tools I use I have custom made, Just as the Sailmaker, Rigger or Sailor may have done, I have placed a few of these in the Tools section on my web site for your interest.
The nets I have made are all hand braided using the same methods and tools that have been used over the past thousand years and longer, the only difference being the use of more modern materials in the making of some of the twines and tools.